Feb 1

 Feb 1

Our second stop in Uruguay is Montevideo, the Capital City.  Merry had a bad night, a reaction to the fish a few days ago, like I had.  I had not prepped for the next day, and darn it, I missed the early 7.45 tour bus.  Never mind.  Merry was still under the weather, but said it was ok for me to go and explore the city.

I got a map and directions and headed to Old Town, a ten-minute walk.  We love the tours, with everything planned out, and a full description by a professional tour guide, but a day FREE on my own was in itself rather special.  I am uncomfortable in a foreign country, not knowing the language, but I make it work with gestures and photos on my phone to get by.

Being Sunday, everything but coffee shops were closed, so I got a taxi to the shopping mall, five miles across town.  It took 45 minutes in gridlock traffic.  Once at the mall, I looked at all the shops for an hour and bought one or two small things, then took a taxi back to the ship, just 30 minutes this time.

The city is not dominated by skyscrapers and is quite charming, with narrow, winding streets that are not at all practical these days.  I got back to the ship just in time to watch the last half hour of my favorite football [soccer] team, Manchester United.  In a thrilling end, Man Utd won.  Three wins in a row with our new manager [head coach].  The day is good.

With most of the passengers off on tours, the ship was deliciously quiet.  A time to reflect and prepare for the next few busy days in Argentina.

Merry was sleeping, so I attended Trivia, then on to the Polo Grill Specialty steak house, and had a lovely conversation at a table for six.  The day ended with a show by all the ship's musicians, singers, and dancers, featuring songs and dances from around the world.  A wonderful presentation.

Feb 2

Merry was feeling much better today, so a New Country – Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina.  The city has a population of 3.1 million, but that goes up to 11 million if you count all the Provinces and outer areas.  It is known as the Paris of the West for its distinctive European-style architecture, wide boulevards, and cultural ties to Paris. The city features extensive tree-lined avenues, lush parks, and Belle Époque, neoclassical, and Art Deco buildings reminiscent of France.

   

   

We docked at a very industrial port, rather than a dedicated cruise terminal.  This means we must take a free shuttle bus to the edge of the port, snaking through the stacks of containers, cargo, trucks, and forklifts to the main gate.  It is all very professional, organized, and efficient.  Next, we took a cruise, an organized free shuttle bus to the center of the city, to explore by ourselves.  The traffic was not a problem. 

We started walking on Florida Street, a pedestrian road that seems to go for miles.  Full of small shops and plenty of local shoppers makes for a very interesting stroll.  The people are very friendly.  They speak Spanish, but they understand enough English to get by.  After an hour of walking, we turned left one block and left again to travel back without getting lost.  This street had more businesses.  We stopped at a café, and I ordered a coffee so we could sit on the sidewalk and enjoy people-watching and the building.  The architecture is strikingly similar to Paris's, and anyone who loves Paris will love this city.  Just like the 7th arrondissement in Paris.

The sidewalks are in poor repair, and we must watch that we do not trip or step in a hole.  We arrived back at our starting point and crossed to a very large park – roundabout.  Lovely.  I noticed a car park beneath the park.  Park under a park!  Is that double parking?  We sat a while again and then visited a gorgeous old Ficus tree and monument,

   

before catching the next shuttle back to the port, and the second shuttle to the ship for lunch.

We had a quiet afternoon, and there was little going on in the ship, as tomorrow is the end of the segment.  Six hundred guests are leaving, and 600 more new friends are expected tomorrow.  We watched a movie in our room, ‘Downton Abby II’, then went to dinner at Jacques, the French specialty restaurant.  Our sharing couple didn't show up, so we had a quiet, private dinner.  There was no show tonight, but they showed the final of the Downton Abby movie in the theater, so we watched that on the big screen.

Feb 3

   

Today is the end of one segment, and the start of a new one.  While the crew is making the ship spick and span for the new passengers, we took a tour of the city.  It is the second day in Buenos Aires, and the bus took us to the main sights of the city, as best it could in four hours.  Argentina has a population of 46 million, of whom 30% live in poverty, and 10% are very wealthy.  Buenos Aires boasts over 30 museums and many theaters, attracting visitors and entertaining the population.  It is a very green city with many parks and wide treelined streets.

We went past the obelisk, like Times Square, the place to celebrate – football wins, New Year's Eve, etc.  

Then on to Plaza de Mayo, a place more for ceremonies and demonstrations.   And the Cathedral.

We stopped to tour the cemetery where elaborate above-ground mausoleums house the rich and famous, above and below the ground, including the famous president, Evita Peron, the very popular former first lady of Argentina.  

We marveled at the Peresian architecture. 

    

We stopped to tour the low-income housing tenement near the famous football stadium, which is vividly colorful.

  

The morning was very hot with bright sunshine, and we were glad to get back to the ship and its AC.  Lunch was crowded with new friends to be, followed by a quiet afternoon.  To our surprise, the heavens opened and gave a 30-minute heavy shower.  

We signed up for the digital photography and art classes for the next segment.  We had dinner again at Jacques, a Specialty French restaurant, with two couples we are friendly with from previous cruises.  This was followed by a show featuring the music of New Orleans, Memphis, and Nashville.

Feb 4

Overnight, we traveled across the estuary back to Montevideo, to give the new arrivals a flavor of Uruguay.  Merry had a tour of the local Jewish Heritage, while I lazed around on the ship and got caught up on some home matters.

I [Merry] took the bus; we had trouble hearing our guide from the beginning.  We finally began the info on the tour – the first thing we did was to stop at a place along the water where there is a memorial for the Holocaust with a huge fence-like structure and plaques with several thoughts.  We were well protected by two specially dressed guards who were with us the whole time we traversed this walkway.  

There seem to be two synagogues of Jewish people: a smaller group of about a thousand who enjoy free access to the temple in the city, and a free grade school for their children.  The high school has already been closed.  It was suggested that the children help keep the area clean along the stretch of the water where the memorial stands. 

The second synagogue is much larger, has a new building to fund, and asks people to contribute about 2500 per year.  This is inclusive.  It had more to offer, being larger, and was mixed, with women sitting among the men.  When there are bar mitvas usually 2 or 3 per week, the total count is up to about 250 per week.

After being in these two temples, hearing our guide became a problem, but I had heard the first part of what she had to tell us, and I assumed it was the better half!!!

Back to Rod.  I took a walk into the old town I visited a few days ago.  A few shops were open now, but they all looked a little sad.  I took the time to sit on a few bench seats at various points and take it all in before returning to the ship and waiting for Merry.

We attended trivia and then the captain's cocktail party.  We are on the way to the Falkland Islands, with two sea days to get there.  The captain informed us he has been watching the weather and sea conditions, and it is looking unlikely we will be able to tender ashore.  The Falkland Islands is something I was looking forward to, being British and the War with Argentina over this ‘rock’.

We had dinner with another nice couple and watched the evening show, a couple demonstrating Tango.  They were very elegant but not my cup of tea.

Feb 5

Seaday.  We attended a lecture about southern Argentina, apparently rather remote with only a small population of people, but a plethora of wildlife.  He also talked about the Falkland Islands, which consist of many islands about 300 miles east of the tip of South America.  We will learn more tomorrow about the war.

I wore my world map shirt today, which always gets a lot of attention from the other guests.

 

I attended a class on digital photography and another on Argentina’s culture, in particular what people wore, which clearly indicated the region they were from.  We also attended an art class where we learned how to paint two leaves with droplets of water sitting on them.  Very interesting.  Next was trivia and a short break before dinner.  We chose to go to the informal grand buffet and then on to the show.

Feb 6

Today marks one full month at sea, with five more to go.  The second seaday on our way to the Falkland Islands.  We had one outstanding Visa needed at this time that proved very difficult to obtain.  It is for the UK.  I suspect I don’t even need one, since I was born in England, but I no longer have a valid UK passport, so I proceeded with the application.  It needed a scan of the passport, reading the passport chip, which turned out to me impossible.  Scanning the face to measure the face's anatomical details, then a photo that was hard to satisfy the requirements.   After many attempts, it was finally approved for both of us, printed, and handed in to the ship.

Overnight, the sea conditions turned very rough with high winds.  Walking around the ship was challenging.  Our latitude is the same as San Francisco's.

The morning talk was about the Falkland War.  The islands are bigger than I had in mind, with a full-time population of 3,662, primarily of British descent, mostly located in the city of Stanley, plus an undisclosed military presence.  The original explores who discovered the islands; who first set foot there is unclear, but it is clear that the British have occupied them the longest.  The archipelago consists of two main islands—East Falkland and West Falkland—and 776 smaller islands, located 600 miles east of southern Argentina.

Often called a "photographer's dream," the islands are a major stop for Antarctic expeditions. Penguins: Five species breed here: King, Gentoo, Rockhopper, Magellanic, and Macaroni. Seabirds: The islands host roughly 80% of the world's black-browed albatross population. Marine Life: Visitors can see Southern elephant seals, South American fur seals, and a variety of whale and dolphin species.

Soon after the talk, the captain announced that the sea conditions made it impossible to anchor and tender ashore at the Falklands, so the Falklands destination was terminated, and we would keep on traveling to Ushuaia, Argentina.

At lunchtime, a group met that were on the 2024 World Cruise, in the formal dining room.  We joined them and had a great time trading stories.  I attended art class and a digital photography class while Merry had a well-earned nap.

Feb 7

Another seaday.  My back has been giving me problems the last couple of days, but today it was unbearable, and I decided I would spend my day flat on my back in bed.  Merry went to needlepoint and then attended the morning lecture.  I made it to the buffet for lunch, and Merry selected my food.  Merry went to the afternoon movie in the theater while I resumed my horizontal pose, skipping my favorite art class.

We had a reservation in the steakhouse restaurant, so I gingerly made my way there, holding on to everything in sight.  Once seated, I was quite comfortable and enjoyed dinner with a couple from Delaware, US.  From there, I managed to get to the theater for the evening show, a wild guitar player who was too loud.  Fortunately, I carry earplugs.  Merry ducked out after 5 minutes of ear-shattering music. I hardly blame her, but my plugs did the trip for me.

I find it hard to explain how I hurt my back.  I certainly have not lifted anything.  One person suggested the rough seas might have jarred it.  The paracetamol did little to help!!

Check back next Sunday for the next chapter.